Le Spectrum

Here is a photo I took of Le Spectrum around 1989.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y60/italiangerry/Cinemas/SpectrumMontreal.jpg

This theatre is to close

Last call at The Spectrum
CFCF:
A Montreal entertainment landmark that has hosted superstars such as U2, The Police and Peter Gabriel is on its last legs.
The Spectrum club on Ste. Catherine street will be demolished to make way for an office tower.
Relocation plans fell through
The developer says negotiations to relocate the Spectrum to another part of the lot fell through.
If the city gives the go-ahead, the Spectrum and several businesses next door will be demolished by summertime.

La Presse

Le Spectrum vit ses derniers mois. Il était prévu que cette institution du showbizz montréalais soit détruite tôt ou tard pour faire place à un nouveau complexe qui aurait abrité le nouveau Spectrum. Ce n'est plus le cas. Le nouveau propriétaire des lieux va de l'avant avec un projet de 70 millions, commerces et tour de bureaux, qui exclut la salle de spectacle.

«Jusqu'à preuve du contraire, il n'est plus question d'une salle de spectacle. On avait des délais à respecter. On a travaillé avec Spectra depuis mai 2006 pour relocaliser le Spectrum à l'arrière de l'édifice, mais malheureusement, jusqu'à aujourd'hui, rien ne se passe, on est obligés d'aller vers une autre option», a confié à La Presse Sam Benatar, président de la société immobilière SIDEV.

Si la Ville l'autorise, le Spectrum et les commerces avoisinants seront rasés l'été prochain après la tenue des FrancoFolies, organisées par Spectra, aussi responsable du Festival international de jazz. La nouvelle construction devrait commencer sans plus tarder.

an history from my web at www.movie-theatre.org

http://www.spectrumdemontreal.ca
March 6,1952-1976 (Movies)
* March 6, 1952 opened by Famous Players’s Consolidated Theatres. The policy was French first-run movies.
* May 11, 1956 Switched to English Language roadshow movies
* July 1970 roadshow policy ends
* January 11, 1974 became an French adult theatre called Le Pigalle. It was shortly renamed Eden and shown English adult movies.
* 1976 taken over by Odeon theatres and renamed Carrefour. It closed July 30, 1976
* 1980 reopened as a popular nightclub called Le Spectrum, performers include Sting, David Bowie, U2
* 2001 There was plans to include this theatre in the Complexe Spectrum project but fell through.
* January 10, 2007 La Presse reports that this theatre is to be demolished in the summer for an office tower.

http://www.drive-ins.com/dbtcdet.htm/tc=53/pga=56 has 1953 pictures of the theatre. (PDF document)

"* January 11, 1974 became an French adult theatre called Le Pigalle. It was shortly renamed Eden and shown English adult movies."

Waitaminit. There are people who care what language their porn is in?

Contre la destruction du Spectrum - Against the destruction of the Spectrum

An online petition is at
http://www.petitiononline.com/abc456g8/

The Spectrum can be seen in this photo.

Nice picture, Lost Memory. The demolation has not started yet for the Best Buy and office tower.

Lost Memory, The Le Spectrum has been demolished to make room for a Best Buy and a office tower (read: parking lot)
article in French
http://lcn.canoe.ca/lcn/artsetspectacles/general/archives/2008/10/20081018-162247.html

Thanks for the update Mike. I can't read the article but the photo pretty much tells the story.

Lost Memory, I took these photos late in October, see then at http://flickr.com/photos/30943004@N00/3032690646/ and http://flickr.com/photos/30943004@N00/3031849787/in/set-72157607082276327/

Thanks Mike. Nice photos of a sad event. It looks like they demolished alot more than just the theater building. I hope the local residents enjoy their new Best Buy store.

Lost Memory I finally found the grand opening ad for the Alouette, it was billed as "Le nouveau cinéma français de distinction" at http://flickr.com/photos/61779764@N00/3001882174/sizes/o/ .
The demolation has has completed.

Nice work Mike. The introduction above should be changed to March 1952 as the opening date.

1983 photo

1950s photo of the theatre as the Alouette.

Exterior:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/61779764@N00/2988318330/in/set-72157612794268988/
Lobby:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/61779764@N00/2283241409/in/set-72157612794268988/
Auditorium:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/61779764@N00/2988317392/in/set-72157612794268988/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/61779764@N00/2987458081/in/set-7215761279426